Nuggets start season with road loss to Kings

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With a packed house, a pumped-up Kings team and so much purple that Barney would be proud, the Nuggets fought the atmosphere and the opponent.

And lost.

Jason Thompson's rebound dunk with 41.5 seconds left was the difference as the Brian Shaw era started with a 90-88 loss to the rejuvenated Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams. It featured a little bit of everything for the Nuggets — moments of effective play and others of some scary situations. The Nuggets are a steady work in progress and, ultimately, their first game displayed just that.

The Nuggets were led by Ty Lawson's 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds, although he missed a layup in the final second.

Evan Fournier of the Denver Nuggets has the ball slapped out of his hand by Patrick Patterson of the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at Sleep Train Arena. More photos. (Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images)

After Lawson's miss, Denver had one more chance, but Randy Foye's desperation 3-pointer from the corner hit off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.

"Ultimately they made the plays at the end that allowed them to win the game," Shaw said. "We had our opportunities."

The Kings got a monster game from DeMarcus Cousins, who finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds.

Denver led 72-70 heading into the fourth quarter, but Sacramento went on a 9-0 run in the first 3:12. The Nuggets regrouped and cut it to 82-80 with 6:28 remaining on Lawson's basket.

After the Kings scored the next six points, the Nuggets again rallied and tied it at 88 with 1:37 left on J.J. Hickson's layup.

The Kings played on raw emotion for most of the first half. A who's who of people in the city were in attendance. Shaquille O'Neal, part of the Kings ownership group, sat courtside. NBA commissioner David Stern was in the building. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson had his own courtside seat. The arena started out with playoff-esque energy.

But the game still came down to the players, and the Nuggets found it difficult to sustain its positive moments. They fell down by as many as 13 points with five minutes left in the second quarter, before an 8-0 run, punctuated by a Hickson slam dunk and a Foye 3-pointer got them back into it at 41-36. They eventually tied the game but entered the half down three, 48-45.

Shaw searched all night for the right combination of players.

The Nuggets started with a patchwork lineup of a hobbled Lawson, dealing with a groin injury, Foye, Anthony Randolph at small forward, Hickson at power forward and JaVale McGee in the middle. Early foul trouble sent McGee to the bench, giving Timofey Mozgov a chance to make an impact.

They went often to three-guard lineups in the first half, had no centers on the court for a few minutes and even ran a play for Andre Miller off the ball, coming off a screen for a catch-and-shoot opportunity.

"There was a lot of energy in the building," Miller said. "They made their run; we made our run. We lost so we just move on to the next one."

Defensively, the Nuggets were solid more often than they weren't. The second half started off in particular effective fashion, with the Nuggets being active on the ball and through screens. Neither team could pull away from the other for good, making the fourth quarter a nip-and-tuck affair.

Nuggets Recap

What you might have missed

JaVale McGee picked up two quick fouls and played limited minutes in the first half. ... Kenneth Faried did not start, still getting back to full strength and conditioning off of a strained hamstring. J.J. Hickson started in his place. ... The Nuggets had seven turnovers in the first quarter, but just one in the second.

Final thought

Not a bad effort for the first time out. They'll get to feed off the home crowd themselves next.